EastWest Gal
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have been here 4 years, and have attempted ER twice. My financial fears get in the way, especially with respect to health insurance fears. So, I need feedback on whether or not I am good to go next year:
I am a hospitalist pediatrician. In 2014, I had about $3M in assets total, and quit working full time. The group and the area I work in have had physician shortages, so I was begged into working on a contract basis on and off for a couple of years. From July 2016 to July 2017, I did not work at all. It was great. However, health insurance costs are frightening in PA. For two of us, we were paying $22000/year in premiums alone. It would have hit $28K/year this year.
The group I worked with suddenly got assigned to take over another unit, with no time to hire new full time physicians. I was called and asked if I would come back to work, in an are that I enjoyed, but my skill set was rusty. I went back, got benefits, which means HI costs are minimal. And DS gets on our health insurance one last year.
I'm trying to put away about 2 years expenses in cash before quitting, by not reinvesting dividends and saving extra earnings in cash vehicles. It's been difficult due some car expenses, appliance failures, roof replacement, and other expenses. I'm about halfway there and see more savings then spending in the next year.
Where I am at:
Investments:
$950K in IRA ( I rolled my 401K into an IRA when I quit full time 4 years ago)
$64K in inherited IRA (need to w/d $3K/year minimum)
$2.35M in after tax investments 60/40
$80K-$100K cash assets
Other asset: 1/4 share of an orchard, nets about $4K/yr for me, but for the next few years will net $0 as we change out tree types. Value of my share is about $100K.
Debt: $75K on a HELOC--paid for roof, new deck, and solar installation. Needs to be paid off in 2024.
I don't count paid off house at this time ($300K-350K) as we don't want to move.
budget is about $70K/year + HI, so about $100K/year if we pay for HI ourselves.
I-ORP and FireCalc say I'm fine.
My plan: Work through next summer, giving the group time to find another pediatrician to replace me--it took 14 months to finally be fully staffed!
Save as much as cash as I can--no plans to replace cars in the next 3-4 years, and travel will not be too expensive, and is figured in our budget.
After retirement plans: We have several things we want to do travel-wise, so travel budget will be $10-15K/year, sometimes less, sometimes more.
DH makes about $5K/year in music. My orchard makes about $4K/year.
I hope to get a degree in music performance and start teaching in my home again. There are several schools in our area that will work for this, and will fit in our annual budget.
I would like to quit sooner, but would like to build up the cash first. I'm planning on giving notice at the end of this year, with a flexible end date so that the partners don't get over-worked again, but can quit as soon as someone is credentialled and trained.
What do you all think?
I am a hospitalist pediatrician. In 2014, I had about $3M in assets total, and quit working full time. The group and the area I work in have had physician shortages, so I was begged into working on a contract basis on and off for a couple of years. From July 2016 to July 2017, I did not work at all. It was great. However, health insurance costs are frightening in PA. For two of us, we were paying $22000/year in premiums alone. It would have hit $28K/year this year.
The group I worked with suddenly got assigned to take over another unit, with no time to hire new full time physicians. I was called and asked if I would come back to work, in an are that I enjoyed, but my skill set was rusty. I went back, got benefits, which means HI costs are minimal. And DS gets on our health insurance one last year.
I'm trying to put away about 2 years expenses in cash before quitting, by not reinvesting dividends and saving extra earnings in cash vehicles. It's been difficult due some car expenses, appliance failures, roof replacement, and other expenses. I'm about halfway there and see more savings then spending in the next year.
Where I am at:
Investments:
$950K in IRA ( I rolled my 401K into an IRA when I quit full time 4 years ago)
$64K in inherited IRA (need to w/d $3K/year minimum)
$2.35M in after tax investments 60/40
$80K-$100K cash assets
Other asset: 1/4 share of an orchard, nets about $4K/yr for me, but for the next few years will net $0 as we change out tree types. Value of my share is about $100K.
Debt: $75K on a HELOC--paid for roof, new deck, and solar installation. Needs to be paid off in 2024.
I don't count paid off house at this time ($300K-350K) as we don't want to move.
budget is about $70K/year + HI, so about $100K/year if we pay for HI ourselves.
I-ORP and FireCalc say I'm fine.
My plan: Work through next summer, giving the group time to find another pediatrician to replace me--it took 14 months to finally be fully staffed!
Save as much as cash as I can--no plans to replace cars in the next 3-4 years, and travel will not be too expensive, and is figured in our budget.
After retirement plans: We have several things we want to do travel-wise, so travel budget will be $10-15K/year, sometimes less, sometimes more.
DH makes about $5K/year in music. My orchard makes about $4K/year.
I hope to get a degree in music performance and start teaching in my home again. There are several schools in our area that will work for this, and will fit in our annual budget.
I would like to quit sooner, but would like to build up the cash first. I'm planning on giving notice at the end of this year, with a flexible end date so that the partners don't get over-worked again, but can quit as soon as someone is credentialled and trained.
What do you all think?
